You are Enough
by An Elsanna Tale
Summary: Elsa is one of a kind, she is quiet, emotionless, cold. She was trained to protect the human kind at all costs. That was until she met Anna, a talkative AI that dreamed of feeling emotions, within time their unlikely relationship began to grow, until it finally turned into something that both of them didn't understand, with no experience whatsoever... love. Futuristic AU, Elsanna.
1. One over Billions

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Frozen, and this wallpaper was made by the extremely talented Kokuchuutei.

 **A/N:** This is one of the hardest chapters I've ever wrote so far, but also, I'm sooo excited to have this out! If you want more of it, review! That increases the update rate, just saying. Many thanks to 3 for the support with this story, check his profile out! Oh! And this story is based on a certain video-game, but the focus in it is the good and ol' Elsanna. Don't like it, don't read it. Consider yourself warned.

If you spot any sort of incoherence or writing errors in this chapter, feel free to review about it or PM me, I'll make my best to fix it.

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 **You are Enough  
** _One over Billions  
_ Chapter One

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She was blinded, the dim light of the nuclear blast could have easily destroyed her cornea, jeopardizing the rest of her dubious military career as an officer of the UNSC. What would become of her without her career? For sure, being in the military was one of the things that she most cared about, one of the few, to be honest. However, her mind was elsewhere, as a matter of fact, her entire _life_ worth nothing compared to this _someone_ , that wasn't there with her.

"Anna".

She was kneeling over a solid light bridge, she could see the Earth from down below, the damage made by the composer - the didact's 'destroyer of planets ship' - was beyond all her expectations. The remaining parts of the planet that weren't glassed - the process of destruction of a planet - were just 'safe', of course that eventually the damage on the other parts of the world would get to there within time, even if it is in other ways, such as socioeconomic collapse. Like some people use to say: Globalization, my ass. The plethora of the marine ocean blue managed to go through all the destruction in no hazard at all; she had completed her mission.

She checked her bio suit. Although it suffered a significant beating during the nearly endless combats inside the enemy ship, it was holding everything together, only exceptions being some few scratches scattered in the artichoke green paint of her suit and her compromised helmet, followed by her malfunctioning shield. Apart from that, her suit was still active, but for now it was just dead weight, a half dead-weight ton, to be exact.

She did it. Even with half Navy to help, this was about a hopeless battle, but for a woman that such word has no way of importance or significance, all that came to fulfill her work, she did it, the inconceivable odds turned out to be - once again - wide enough for positive results of what Frost would call as an 'ordinary' mission. She isn't a very thinking person, according to her logic, thinking about what to do is just waste of time, if she wanted something done, she just does it, however...tonight, she was afraid. For the first time, her mind was clouded with concerns about hers and Anna's safety, she didn't wanted to die - no one does, not even Spartans - but all she cared about was her companion of all time, who was in a state of worrying decay, it was extremely painful to watch, even to Elsa. But yet... she had saved mankind, she was safe, and she had saved Anna, it was then just a matter of time to fix everything, and hopefully, she could enjoy Anna's companion for more eight years.

She focused again on the present, it sometimes annoyed her when her train of thought was interrupted by concerns of the past or predictions of the future clouded her mind into something that she considered herself as utterly useless. Her screen was slightly cracked, that had never happened before with her, that only meant that the combat was more intense than she had initially predicted. It was difficult to see with the large crack splitting the screen in half on the vertical, limiting her vision, completely disabling her heads-up display.

She looked around her. She was just above the planet, still in space, trapped in a violet and blue shaded cube, the surfaces were covered with binary codes everywhere. She ran a routine diagnostic about the place with what remained of her operational systems, looking for clues if the place supported any sort of life, her operational on-board headset answered with an electronic voice, the word 'Sustainable' was enough to satisfy her. She reached out for the release button on the back of her helmet; the hissing noise of the decompression became the only sound on the entire place.

She took some bit more of time to scan the entire place, she looked at the infinite space above her and the wrecks of the UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn_ stood out in the myriad of stars and planets around. Seeing the destroyed ship was a bit nostalgic, she had worked in there during the entire Halo campaign, to then be transferred to an even larger ship, the UNSC _Arendelle,_ a Paris-class heavy frigate from the Navy. The _Dawn_ helped her to destroy the composer's fuselage, and even after receiving a hard punishment in its structure while fighting against some of the Covenant Frigates, it resisted the missiles and torpedoes until it was completely evacuated, before it split in half.

The helmet finally decompressed, releasing its locks around Elsa's neck and loosening itself from her head, finally allowing Elsa to remove the destroyed obstacle.

She reached out for the communication device inside her helmet and detached it, placing the device by hear ear. She looked at the back of her damaged helmet and removed the chip of her AI. Usually, a blue circular light that filled a hole on the chip represented the presence of Elsa's AI, who wasn't there anymore; the light was off, the transparent circle sometimes hunted her in her dreams, whenever that little and bright blue sphere gave space to a dusty and lonely void, she could see herself in a crossfire between aliens and marines with bloodshot eyes. Her eyes were glazed on the ship, she rummaged through her memories to find any explanation; she could swear that before the nuclear blast she was still with her, quite literally by her side, helping her to defeat the Dictat.

"Anna, do you read?" She called through the detachable headset.

No response.

"Anna, come in".

Nothing. She clenched her hands into a tight fist. Anna had never took more than one call to answer, maybe she had lost her ability of communication, or…

The surfaces around her became clear, slowly turning into a gradient which began on the walls ahead of her, getting lighter as they passed her, glowing in a more violent blue shade, it yet wasn't. She stood up, abandoning her helmet on the floor, turning back as she did so. What had been waiting for her was beyond all her definitions of possible, and if she had any faith in some greater being whatsoever, she could even describe it as a miracle.

Anna was there, standing still, her hands entwined in each other over her stomach, purposely covering her revealing bust, a shy smile curved her lips, and as soon as she began walking towards her, Elsa stepped back twice, forcing Anna to stop dead in her tracks.

She was the Anna she knew, of course. But something was... different

She wasn't the same small, tiny, little - any adjective that is synonymous to small could be used - hologram as before - like she was an unphysical animated toy - she had possessed a higher form now, about the same size as a normal human being, she was the most real thing she has ever seen. Her presence was unbelievable and although Elsa wanted to avoid admitting it at all costs, it was a bit frightening, and she was about to rub her eyes like a little child to make sure if she was actually... well, real.

"H-How?" That was the first time that her voice failed her, she gained in result a sad, yet warming smile from her AI.

"Oh… I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" There was a hint of irony in that as she smiled faintly, just for a split second, before it gave the room for her disconcerting face, yet it was enough for Elsa to catch it, her eyes were shining like a distant star. It was being Elsa's disgrace, but she couldn't point it out how, she just _felt_ it. Anna's eyes were different than anything she had ever seen before, they were by far much more _powerful_ than anything that she had the chance to lay her eyes onto, and also, by the way that her clear violet eyes stared at her owns, she could tell that Anna was afraid, an equivalent mirror of herself.

"But if you're here…" She trailed off, Anna got in closer and closer, the gravity pulled her down with such a strength that it felt like it was determined to dismantle her.

"It worked. You did it-" Her voice cracked, she couldn't recall the last time that such malfunction occurred. "Just like you always do". Elsa had a great effort to divert her gaze from her partner, she was trying to worthlessly ignore her, even though she was well aware that she was just mere inches apart from her. She looked around at the box they were trapped into, never meeting Anna's eyes, the transparent, physic space wasn't being supported by anything properly physic, it was being supernatural even for a person like Elsa that had seen nearly _everything_ that could be considered 'abnormal' in the galaxy, at least. Like the cube was merely levitating over the planet, that was it, or believe that the cube without natural properties could stay in the planet's orbit.

"So how do we get out of here?"

Anna faced the floor, but quickly looked up when Elsa slowly turned around. "I'm not coming with you this time".

 _What?_

"What?" Elsa's head snapped to her direction, she looked at her incredulously, like she had said the most insane thing that has ever been said, that in fact it would not be an exaggeration. It was yet beyond her beliefs, from everything that Elsa had expected, after everything she had to undergo during her training as an UNSC officer and even as Spartan, all the punishments she received to prepare the base of an unique monument to prevent it from falling apart even in the strongest of the earthquakes, nothing…nothing prepared her for something she never thought she'd eventually face.

The unfathomable grief of a loss.

"Most of me is down there… I held only enough back to get you off the ship". In exception for Anna, no AI in service for the UNSC is able to duplicate itself, let alone in a phase of rampancy, - when an AI reaches to its lifespan – in this act of martyrdom, she had used all the energy that was left of her systems, and

"No… That's not-" Elsa didn't even knew if there was anything to say. For the first time, she felt powerless, she had a great effort to remain her indifferent demeanor. In her entire life, she never felt so close to cry, it was a milestone that she couldn't be proud of. "We go together".

"It's already done…"

Elsa shook her head; the salty taste of the seriousness from the words of her partner wasn't enough to make her believe in them. No… She couldn't believe in none of it, she just couldn't lose her, not again, she had left her to die once, and she couldn't forgive herself until she finally found her again, promising her that she was never going to let her go and make things right.

"I'm _not_ leaving you here".

"Elsa…"

Anna took a bold step forward, her delicate fingers making contact with Elsa's soft and tender face, she wanted to savor it all, easily relishing the surreal feeling, the feeling of Anna's physically touching her face was indescribable, as well as her presence.

"I've waited so long to do that". Her defeated, yet calm voice had a strong effect on Elsa's already messed up mind, all of it came with a miserable sigh, her sigh was like a violent cursed tide that bombarded her with feelings that she had no experience whatsoever.

 _Damn her… why did she had to sigh?_ A recurrent thought with unclear intentions suddenly emerged. Elsa had to take some time to understand what that meant. Was she going insane? Finally losing her mind?

She had fought on a nearly endless war through her entire life, and she had no regrets on anything that she had done, but there was things that she should've done better, or fixed things that she had caused damaged. Like her AI. The look in Anna's eyes was nothing short of miserable, there was so much pain and sorrow in them that she thought that if her AI was a proper human in the verge of such emotions, she'd be on her knees, crying her guts out – something that A.I's never have the luck, or misfortune to be able to.

Anna's entire hand entered in contact with Elsa's cheek. She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, her beautiful smile begged for her attention, as it threatened to destroy herself, it was the best thing she had ever felt in a long time, but the sorrow was a the most terrifying feeling that she had ever felt.

"It was my job to take care of you". Anna reluctantly gave Elsa her space, she kept her gaze fixed on the floor, determined to keep her eyes there, avoiding to look at Anna as much as possible, as it would shatter her completely.

"We were supposed to take care of each other…" Her head snapped to Anna's direction, meeting eyes filled with grieve. "and we did!"

"Anna, please…" She couldn't recall any other moment in her life that her heart was so fluttered. After so many years in combat, there wasn't a single moment that she ever felt so afraid, what was all that for? After eight years, they had been into many life-threatening situations, standing always for each other. Frost had took an oath to care and protect Anna, no matter the situations or consequences were… but now, after hers and Anna's mission is done, in protecting their planet and saving the human race… Elsa couldn't point out if protecting her AI was a mission that was given to her, or a personal objective, everything that she does, are based in objectives, as it was naturally more organized, with less chances of error, but she considered it as an infinite goal, where the only way that it could reach an end is by defeat. And she had never lost anything before. She never had felt anything as strong as she did for her own AI… an AI, a computer, a machine that was more precious than the entire human kind for all that she cared.

 _"_ _Before this is all over… promise me that you'll figure out which one of us is the machine"._ She once said… It was a stupid question with an obvious answer, right? Elsa wasn't sure. Anna was the closest thing that she knew of being the perfect living being in the universe, she not only protected Elsa during their campaign on the halo installations, but she _took care_ of her, there's a slight difference in both of them that Elsa understood. Elsa was Anna's drug – an addiction that she couldn't to get over with - she owed everything, literally everything to her. Her debts with her would never come to an end, she saw nothing beyond her, she couldn't do a thing without her. She was her everything.

Anna smiled warmly. She gave a step back, and another one... each step compressed Elsa more and more as she walked away.

Elsa's shaky arms tried to uselessly reach out for Anna. "Wait". Was everything she could muster, tears finally accumulating on her eyes, although she couldn't find herself to care, crying was literally the last of her concerns.

"Welcome home, Elsa".

Anna walked backwards, never breaking eye contact. In her last stand, she looked down sorrowfully, regretting - in the same way as Elsa - every choice that she had made that brought them to where they were standing right then. Elsa never felt so attached to someone else in like... forever. Every single person that she met and got close with was killed by the Covenants, she had to figure that out all over again.

 _Every person that I got close with is dead._

 _Is that some sort of curse that someone threw at me?_

Elsa had failed with everyone she cared about. Miranda - former commander of the _Dawn -_ was dead, Jackson - Frost's squad member - was dead, and now her faithful and inseparable AI was dying right before her eyes, she has had enough of that.

"I said... _I'm not leaving you here_ ". Elsa stated, freezing Anna in place, stunned and in awe. She took a step forward, her curious nature kicking in, progressively overcoming her protective instincts. Elsa was relieved for a moment, but it would never last long, she felt it. "You are coming with me, no matter what I have to do". Anna knew what Elsa was talking about, that look in her eyes said that she had made her mind, and she knew all too well that nothing would make her change it, and even if she tried to persuade her, she'd just fail catastrophically.

Anna gave her a wary smile, there was nothing she could do... it was already done, what could she do about that?

"This bubble, what is it?" Elsa asked; her face scrunched in seriousness.

"I created it around you about a hundred milliseconds before you hit the detonator of the nuclear device so it can protect you, you're certainly safe".

Elsa smiled confidently. It never came with good news.

"Undo it". The couple words came as a short and direct command.

"W-Why?" Anna's voice failed again, she wasn't liking the way that Elsa was speaking, much less how she was smiling, she never smiled. Anna was venturing into uncharted territory

"Just undo it". Elsa repeated.

"I-I can't". It was the short answer, but that was Anna, after all. "The nuclear blast will definitely kill you, everything I've worked for would be in vain! I-I can't risk in having you killed, Elsa! This is- this is not right!". The difference between her act of martyrdom and risking Elsa's life was clear to Anna, but still, she couldn't bring herself to care. Anna's 'life' meant nothing compared to Elsa, hell, she had saved the fucking _galaxy_ , what Anna meant compared to that? A decadent AI that was only known for being a Spartan's sidekick

Elsa darted forward and grabbed Anna's wrists forcefully. She didn't meant to be so harsh, but it was the only way of persuasion she knew.

"GET. ME. OUT OF HERE!" She shouted. An spike of electricity went through Anna's systems, she had only experienced that sort of current before once, it was yet the most terrifying experience she had to face so far. She had different levels of electric current going through her form, morbid acknowledge could be an example - when Elsa plugged Anna into a Covenant computer in the Halo installations, the first time when a human-made AI hacks into an alien system - excitement, happiness, sorrow... love. She knew what that was, though... she was afraid.

For what she yet couldn't believe is that she was afraid of _Elsa_.

"NO!" Anna turned into red for a moment until she finally returned to her original blue shade, her eyes also turned into white. Elsa had seen it before - few weeks earlier, actually. It was a step of her state of rampancy, her systems were deceiving her and Anna's own conscience was changing as well. "I WON'T! I'm _not_ letting you die because of a stupid fantasy that you live! Get your shit together, Frost!" She managed to free herself from Elsa's powerful hands and grab her shoulders.

Elsa stepped backwards, dumbstruck by her AI's sudden burst, an reaction such as this was unpredictable. She immediately regretted her actions. She didn't knew that she could've hurt her AI. She looked at her own hands, she could've blamed them for her act of aggression, but it was just do deceive herself, she only wished that she could save her, make things right. She never would've guessed that a machine would change her in the way she did.

Everything she did was so wrong. Her intentions in her mind, at least were... fair, but something was still wrong, she could feel it whenever she looked at Anna's expressions, it was like she was desperate to be considered, to be properly noticed by her...was she being so selfish, after all? Was she hurting the one that she had promised herself to take care of in one way or another?

She never had faith in a higher, celestial being, but _if_ there was one watching out all her actions, he - with no doubt - was making sure himself that Elsa would be taken directly to the worst, darker corner of hell, a place so gloomy that has been forgotten by the devil himself, for the only sin that she desperately wanted to confess.

"I'm sorry".

If there were any way to get the attention of the AI, surely this would be it.

"For what?" Anna knew Elsa all too well, she wasn't the kind of lying, but still, she wanted to make sure that her systems weren't deceiving her in some sort of state of rampancy, but at the same time, it was a part of her snobbish nature showing up.

"For making you lower than you actually are, by always leaving you at the end of my list of priorities. By never listening your rants about how you were jealous of us, humans, and our ability to _feel_ , by never realizing that you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me- the greatest _person_ that I had the _luck_ to meet, and live. By never being grateful for choosing me, instead of the others Spartans, and finally... by depriving you of what you deserve, more than anyone in this universe... a _life"_.

Anna was astounded, she had never witnessed Elsa saying something so deep, and the way that she said the words ' _person_ ' and ' _life_ ' with such conviction - like she believed that Anna actually was a living being - was astonishing, and extremely vibrant, her systems were failing her, not because she was in rampancy anymore, she could at least _feel_ that, she knew that it was something else... something more powerful than anything she had ever experienced before.

A blast of information and a peak of electric current coursed through Anna's systems, her hand flew to her head, as if she was having an intense headache. "Ow... The knowledge- so much, so fast! It's glorious!"

"You... Gosh, how can I say it?" Anna scratched her head, messing with her hair slightly, Elsa always loved whenever Anna did that, even when she was a little hologram hovering over her chip, always unfocused her during her missions, it was always a craze that she was never tired of seeing. In the last few days, it for some reason was everything she could think about, although she never displayed this for the others, it was all a failure, something that should be abolished from her own conscience forever.

"You... love me?" A phantom smile surged and disappeared on Anna's lips, she hoped that Elsa wouldn't see it. Even while she always wanted to make her that question.

Elsa didn't dared to utter a word, she didn't even dared to breathe! She wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or mad at herself, how could she ever think that she had a slight chance with her? She was an AI! Not some sort of physical form that could express and understand her thoughts, personality, not even her charisma... or desires. She couldn't feel the heat of the sun, the ocean wind gently swinging her hair, how could she think that she could feel her slender arms, her pale face covered with clear freckles, her thick, long, inviting thighs, her lips...

AIs weren't made to _feel,_ they weren't designed to have emotions or ordinary feelings, simple things that binary codes can't create. Even though Anna was the only of its kind, created from a human living brain tissue, she wasn't made for any of that, they could have their own charisma, but not be as complicated as Anna became.

"Yes". She finally said, she knew that she was going to regret that later, it was her first thought after the lonely word went past her lips, however she couldn't bring herself to care. "You are, undoubtedly, the only one that I could bring myself to love".

Anna smiled warmly at that, there was nothing left to say. It was all her wishes coming true, the words that she always wanted to listen, finally reaching her anxious ears; she had never felt so _human,_ so alive before. Elsa's words fluttered the heart that she never had, and she could only pretend that her hypothetical heart never beat that fast in a long time.

"But please, don't let this end here". Elsa sniffed, in verge of tears. "Don't let me lose you _again,_ Anna... I- I don't know what I'm going to be without you! Since the beginning you stood by my side, and I never felt something that strong," she placed her hand over her chest, "I'm not good with words, but just give me a chance, I can be whatever you want, I can change. You had done that to me before".

Anna couldn't help but be visually disturbed by Elsa's confession, she was visibly quivering, unsure of what to do, undecided in the most challenging decision of all her short life. She couldn't risk it all... she could bear with the burden of dyeing, but she couldn't even _think_ if it was possible for her to move on without Elsa. She was literally her everything... what was she without the Spartan Frost-049? An decadent and malfunctioning AI in state of rampancy... what would be her utility for the UNSC in the future? Be in a military museum for the rest of her lifespan, receiving maintenance every six years and be shown as an example of bravery and... that's it? She wasn't even brave, she was just...a sidekick, a loyal sidekick of the proper legend.

If there was a chance... that Elsa and Anna could live up together, for the rest of their lives, it was worth the risk.

"I don't want you to change" Anna muttered, the binary cube shattered in a thousand pieces, a dim light took over all of Elsa's senses.

It was a Déjà vu. She was kneeling over the light bridge, with the composer firing against the planet over her, threatening to destroy it all, the only thing that could stop the massive destruction, and possible extermination of the human race was standing mercifully few yards away from her.

Instead of crawling to pick up the nuclear device and blowing it up, she laid down, watching the beautiful planet above her. Memories of her childhood before the Spartan program flashed back, she was looking to the planet just like she used to look to the stars, the certain AI being the only thing in her mind, she didn't cared about anything. She was worthy, of all life on the planet Earth, none could compare to Anna. Elsa's one and only true love.

She was worthy. She was only one, but she was one that worth more than billions.

No one, could ever compare to Anna. Elsa had no regrets.


	2. The Council

**I don't own Frozen, nor a certain game from 343i... can you guess what it is?**

 **A/N:** Holy sh*t, guys! 16 followers in one chapter? I had no idea that this story would have such a bang in its first chapter. I have to thank my bud christian . nickles3 for helping me with this story. I planned on publishing it tomorrow, and this chapter was going to be shorter, but I got this done earlier and I guess that inspiration came to me? So... here we go.

Reviews makes me write faster, just saying!

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 **You are Enough  
** _The Council  
_ Chapter Two

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 _"Captain Lasky, I have eyes on him"._

 _"Do whatever you have to; he can't turn the Composer on!"_

"Pause it, please". The projection froze in place as the council leader spoke his command; the entire atmosphere of the room was dense and speculative. The man in his mid-50s turned ninety degrees and pointed to the projection on the wall, never breaking eye contact with his defendant. "So you had, and I quote 'eyes on him', mind in explaining to everyone in this council who would that be?"

"He was the Didact, sir". A short and cold answer quickly followed, a polygraph was not necessary to verify the authenticity of her statement. She was always looking deep into his eyes, she never expected him to feel frightened or unstable by her gaze, also because she would be disappointed, he was just as cold as her.

"The Didact! The presumed dead forerunner who declared war by himself against the humanity, is that correct?" He was spitting venom in every syllable of his rant, as he subjectively condemned the defendant with his statements; he hoped that somehow he could affect the judgments of the person on the other side of the bench. That man worked successfully by putting fear in people, causing them to be reluctant in their own arguments, before he got inside the room, however, he knew that it was going to be different, in a bad different. Frost was a very well-known soldier and virtually put what was once the top-secret Spartan program on the society's radar. Everybody considered her as the legend that saved the galaxy from complete obliteration, and few years later, the one who saved Earth from destruction.

"That is correct". Cold words left her mouth loud and clear instantly, catching the council and the jury off guard, accustomed with reluctant people that had big mouths, but always seems to forget how to speak when under pressure.

The leader hesitated. He knew that confront her was going to be a pointless task, but what he did not expect was that she was so indifferent to his attempts of intimidation. He wondered for a while; _does she even cares?_

He shook his head and looked back to the projection at the wall. "Play it". The projector began humming the silent noise of its cooling fans and the light gained motion again.

It showed a first-person perspective from Frost's helmet, she was still far away from the Didact, but it was possible to spot him in the distance. It was impossible to get to there, since the Didact was right in the middle of the Composer, and there was nothing that connected the center of the structure from its surroundings, incapacitating her of attacking the Didact. Frost scanned her surroundings and noticed an electronic console, with her own conscience, she rushed for it and plugged the AI chip in, Anna's hologram appeared and divided herself in four clones, and then she disappeared, directly ahead, a hard light energy bridge was formed, connecting her to the Didact's fate.

"Pause".

The council leader turned toward the jury. "Here we see the artificial intelligence ANA 0539-8, most known as the nickname given to her, 'Anna'". Elsa looked up to the council leader as he spoke Anna's service number. "This A.I's primary functionality was to assist the cruiser _Pillar of Autumn_ , but not only had she failed her mission, but she also took refuge on Elsa's MJOLNIR powered assault armor-". Elsa had expected many things coming from him, but never have predicted that he would use such a dirty trick.

"Under the command of the captain Jacob Keyes!" The captain of the UNSC _Infinity_ Lasky intervened. He commands the largest ship of the UNSC fleet, the _Infinity_ under Lasky's commands is considered the most lethal artifact under the human possession, and some say that it is capable of destroying enemy ships by just going _through_ them. Lasky is one of the few Elsa's friends that remains alive.

"Yes, with what purpose?"

"To assure that the halo Installation number four was never going to be activated". No one knew for what reason Lasky was battling for, but it looked like he would not give up.

"If it wasn't for his incompetence, the Covenant would never discover the halo rings! He showed the enemy the definitive weapon for their victory! We struggled for years until we could finally turn the tide to our favor".

"He was fleeing from the Covenants! The _Autumn_ was the only remaining cruiser that survived the _Fall of Reach_ , what would you do?! Turn the ship around and try to fight an entire armada of Covenant capital ships with a damaged light cruiser? You'd be obliterated at the sight!"

"He was a huge of an _idiot!_ " The court was taken by gasps, then, he finally realized what he had brought upon himself. Jacob Keyes is considered by the UNSC's top echelon as an 'exemplary and legendary naval officer', as described in the book of honor of the Navy. The legacy of the Keyes' family was created on his behalf, the former commander of the UNSC _Forward unto Dawn_ Miranda Keyes was a product of her father's legacy, proving once and for all that military excellence was part of that family.

He looked around the court, there were predatory eyes surrounding him. He saw no other possible option but retreat on his statement, hurting his inflated ego significantly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what has gotten into me". He half-lied, perhaps his ego was taking the better of him, making him say nonsense, but he always know what to say; he was a strategist, after all.

"Commander Foucault! Behave yourself!" Although Tobias Foucault was the leader of the Unified Earth Government's council, he could not overpass the group's decisions. He had a great influence over them, but that ended there, all the resolutions and projects should be approved by the council in a majority of votes, yet, being a leader didn't gave him the right to disrespect the memories of a deceased captain.

"Again, I'm sorry…" He looked back to Elsa, who was sitting behind a wooden bench on an oversized chair, visibly amused by the burst of the prosecutor. "Tell me, Spartan… what was the intentions of the A.I. in that situation?"

Elsa lifted an eyebrow, she was not sure of what he wanted by asking her this, and only then she had regretted in not choosing a lawyer. "Her intentions were to disable the shield around the Didact and creating a hard light energy bridge, allowing me access to the core of the composer, so I could destroy it with a HAVOK portable warhead". She took some time to answer this time, yet she was quick in her answer.

"So your plan was to get to the composer's core and blow it up, saving the home planet of the human race, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir".

"Then why you didn't do it?" Elsa knew, since the beginning, that this question was coming. Yet, she didn't think she'd be that nervous. To don't show her demeanor to the council and to the jury, she quickly answered.

"Even with Anna's efforts to disable the shield, I wasn't able to penetrate it; she was too weak due to her rampancy state. As stated in the operation report, I called commander Lasky of the _Infinity_ and requested a direct strike from the ship's MA cannons".

Magnetic Accelerated Cannons, usually known as MACs, they are the main weapons of the _Infinity_ , both located at the front of the ship, although they only could be shot directly ahead, with no control of the projectile, a direct hit of the guns might cause an extensive damage to a ship's structure.

"Yes, she requested our help, and we did it, two MAC rounds were enough to destroy the composer". Lasky intervened again, causing more outrage to Tobias.

"But she said that the Didact and the composer were protected by a shield, isn't it supposed to protect the ship?!" He lifted an accusatory finger directly to Lasky, who was sitting down at the back of the court.

"Indeed it is". Elsa cleared her throat before speaking, leading all the attention to her. "But one round is enough to disable the power grid of the ship, don't you think?" She ranted with a hint of irony, to the surprise of the jury. "If the _Infinity_ can rip apart a Covenant capital ship, then it is more than enough to turn the power off, the second round was just to finish the job".

He frowned at Elsa for a moment, but she expressed no reaction at all, she just kept staring deep into his eyes as she was doing the entire time. It then became clear that this trial was not going exactly as he wanted.

However, he still had a card up his sleeve, and he was determined to use it.

"Let's get back to the A.I."

Elsa suddenly turned around; she wasn't able to hold that on much longer, she took no time to find who she was looking for. Lasky noticed her sudden move and could feel his feet getting cold when he noticed that she was looking straight back to him. Her expression begged for his help, it was unnerving to see her in such a weakened state.

He then found out what he needed to do. Elsa had saved Lasky once, when unknown covenant forces attacked the military academy that he was into, since when, he had a debt with her, he pretty much owed his life to her, his entire military career wouldn't have happened if that huge armored soldier didn't appear that night, saving him and some other few of his squad. He pushed his chair backwards; the screeching noise of its legs rubbing against the polished floor was the only sound of the entire court.

He raised, standing out amongst the crowd around him. He gulped a lump that formed on his throat. "I volunteer to be the defendant's lawyer". He looked to the front, his head high and his back straight, showing off his authority as the captain of the largest ship of the UNSC fleet, of grandest importance.

Tobias was already tired of Lasky's intrusions, and that was pushing beyond his rupture point. "It's a bit too late already, don't you think, captain Lasky?!" He nearly shouted out in the middle of the court, not even caring on what the jury would think about his demeanor, he was burying himself six feet underground and didn't even realized that Lasky was the one giving Elsa the shovel to finish the job.

"Well, I don't think that it would be a problem, would it, Your Honor?" He looked to the other mid-50s male at the other side of the court, which judging by his regal clothes – in comparison to everybody else, with military uniforms – was definitely the judge, he looked first at Lasky, then to Tobias, who was looking back to him, and finally to Elsa, who was looking to Lasky, her expression conveyed relief.

Honestly, everything he wanted was to get over with it and let the jury decide if Elsa was either innocent or culprit of the treason charges that Tobias had accused her. In all honesty, he knew everything that Elsa had done to humanity, and if she was going to get arrested for something, it should be for something much greater than that, everything turned out to be all right, after all. "I don't see a problem with that". He finally answered, Elsa sunk back on her seat, beyond relieved.

"WHAT?!" Tobias screamed as Lasky sat down at the chair by Elsa's side.

The young captain could see bags under her eyes the moment he took some time to pay attention at her; she wasn't sleeping at all after everything that had occurred. He looked back to the crazed prosecutor and with a smirk in his lips, he said. "So… about Anna".

Tobias sighed and recomposed himself in front of everyone, and then walked back to his seat. "ANA 0539-8, nicknamed as Anna. She was the Spartan Frost personal A.I. during the denouement of the Human-covenant war. She was a valuable asset to mankind, for providing us an unbelievable amount of information that we simply wouldn't get anywhere else, all of paramount help for winning the war". He introduced, all the time evaluating Elsa, looking for any hint of concern in her expressions, but just as before, he got nothing.

"What happened to her?" He finally asked.

"I'll let my… lawyer, speak for me". She said, a bit uncomfortable of calling Lasky as her lawyer, since he had almost no knowledge about law, everything back in the space, in the _ordinary_ military life, was all about shooting the shit out of aliens.

"Anna was at an advanced state of rampancy during the composer's attack… well, I witnessed in firsthand what her status was, and-".

The lights of the court flickered; the silent and nearly undetectable noise of the air-conditioning turned off and then back on after a couple seconds, the projection at the wall disappeared, a murmur took over the room for some time. Some thought that the engines of the ship weren't running properly, others didn't even mind it.

"Well, why don't you ask her yourself?" An easily recognizable voice took over the court, people looked at each other, looking the entire room for the source of the voice, the guards at the doors unlocked their combat rifles as an instinct, but there was absolutely nothing.

The projector turned itself back on, displaying a variable circular blue light hologram in between the device and the wall. The hologram physic projector was an antique technology, but it was what gave grace to the court. "Hey there, Tobias".

"Do I… do I know you?" Even though he considered himself as an alpha male, he seemed to be shitting his pants by that point. He sometimes lost all his behavior when things are not going the way he wants, and it always showed the man under the mask that was his ego. In result, his serious demeanor was replaced by something laughable and even pitiful.

 _Poor man._ Elsa thought.

"Sure you do! You were talking about me". Anna answered. Elsa was uneasy; they haven't exactly been talking to each other after everything that had happened a month ago. After Anna had been finally restored by her creator, Dr. Halsey, Elsa tried to avoid her as much as possible, she had said things that she wanted to regret in saying, and now she was sure that she was hurting Anna by just avoiding her. Still, she couldn't help it, there was a greater force in control, something that came deep inside of her, but still she couldn't properly explain.

"You look good, Elsa!" Anna greeted cheerfully. Elsa blushed instantly and hung her head low, almost kissing the wooden table. She wasn't ready for this, she was never going to be ready for her compliments, she wasn't ready for her voice, she wasn't ready for her at all.

"Don't do that, Anna…" She muttered under her breath, she knew that only her was able to listen to that, she was _everywhere_ anyways. The court was at the UNSC _Arendelle_ , and Anna had been assigned to work at the same ship as Elsa, the arctic blonde wasn't sure if that was on purpose, but those were orders, and she was willing to follow them, like she always did… except _this_ one time.

Elsa looked to her watch, 11:57 A.M, launch break was close, she allowed a relieved sigh go past her lips, she was going to have enough time to recompose herself for the second – and hopefully, last one – part of the trial, now everything was going to be different, because she couldn't escape this time. Anna couldn't help but feel excited, on the other hand. She knew everything about Elsa. She knew about what she uses to eat, what she uses to drink, she knows _everything_ about her. But there was something that she didn't know, or she didn't remember: how does it feels to finally talk to her? How exactly is her voice? There was something that avoided her to access her memories and listen to Elsa's voice again. She was finally getting the chance to _talk_ to her, even if it was for a brief moment.

"Anna".

"Hey Lasky, how's Roland?" Roland was Anna's 'friend'; he is the A.I. in charge of the _Infinity_. They had talked a lot while Elsa was briefed for the strike at the Installation 05 – the 5th Forerunner-built halo ring – and so their friendship had begun; they had not talked much since, not because of choice, but because they hadn't the chance.

"He was asking about you for some time, and when I told him about what happened, he was really worried about you, but he's doing fine, and he's glad that you are as well". Lasky was a very charismatic man, he doesn't needs to try hard to give a good impression of him to everybody, he was being so nice to Elsa that he achieved something that many tried, yet many failed, her friendship.

"I know that it's nice that everybody is reuniting again, but we have a serious affair here to discuss and hopefully to judge". Tobias intervened as his cockiness finally kicked in. Elsa knew him all too well, she was wondering throughout the trial when his true nature was going to show up. Don't get him wrong, he's a remarkable commander, of paramount importance to the rescue mission of Dr. Halsey (Anna's creator), which was captured by the covenant about five years ago. However, when the spotlights and the whole media fell upon him, his ego grew into something that wouldn't fit in his head, but he was stubborn enough to squeeze it in.

"Yes, yes… but look at the time. It's already noon-" The judge said and Elsa checked herself in her watch, both pointers on the top spot of the clock was an image that brought her clear relief. "- I guess that we should do our launch break. We shall start it again in three hours, you're all dismissed".

A series of low murmurs took over the courtroom; everybody stood up and headed to the now opened main exit. Elsa hurried off to be one of the firsts to leave the room and disappear from the hallways.

Even with multiple voices calling her name from behind, she didn't slow down, on the contrary, the calls only served as a fuel to make her move faster. When she was about to leave the main hallway of the lodgings and enter in her own chambers, she felt a hand on her shoulder. By sheer instinct, she grabbed his hand and twisted it from its own wrist, almost displacing the hand's tendons.

"Ouch, Elsa!" Lasky yelped in pain, his arm was twisted in an unhealthy angle. Elsa's eyes widened, she could see the look of fright on her commanding officer, and mostly, her friend.

 _Way to go._

"S-Sorry, captain Lasky! I didn't mean that!" Elsa nearly shouted her apology while she let go of his hand. It was a bit odd to see her overreact about that, Lasky wanted to ask what the hell was going on with her, but he voted against it.

"Nah, don't worry-". He replaced the wrist in place, resulting in a loud and satisfactory crack. "-I have gone through worst". He mocked.

A tiny and almost imperceptible smile crept into Elsa's face; it was definitely a remarkable sight. Before what happened in the battle for Earth, Elsa always held a professional and serious demeanor, she never smiled, laughed, or expressed something real, anything that could show that she was a proper human. To some, she was just a machine made for going to war, a definition that she was already used to. "Okay. If you excuse me, I'm going to get in and clear my mind a little bit". Elsa said, she quickly reached out for the fingerprint reader and unlocked the door of her quarters. She was about to go in when Lasky stepped forward and stood in her way, slamming the door shut.

"I want to talk to you, Elsa". His voice had an unpleasant effect on her, he said it like a loved one had just passed away and he was the one that had to tell her the bad news. "Something was wrong back in the courtroom, and I'd like to know what it is".

"I'm not ready to talk about it". Elsa tried to slightly push him out of the way and take refuge in her safe haven, but there was something in his expressions that she couldn't describe, he didn't uttered a word, nor he fought back, but only by looking at him, she knew that it was something serious, and she knew all too well what it was.

"If you want to run away from me, go ahead. I am not going to push you to talk about something you don't want to. But I have to warn you… if you keep this up, if you conceal all your concerns and secrets all to yourself, they're going to consume you bit by bit until you finally realize that there's nothing left". He stepped aside, clearing her path. A part of her wanted to run to the inside and just lock the door for how long she wanted to, however… there was this little piece of her that restrained her in place, urging to follow his advice, and to tell him everything.

Well, not _everything_ , but at least what she considered safe for both of them… and for Anna.

"It's Anna, isn't it?" He said as if he was reading her mind. She simply nodded, and everything became clear to him. "I'd like to know what happened in there, but I guess that it's not going to be healthy for you to talk about it with me just yet. I will try my best to postpone the trial, but you _have_ to talk with her. There is no easy way out, Elsa. I can't say that what you're going through is easy, it isn't, but you always faced things that no man have the guts to handle, it's not like she's going to destroy you".

"It's different". Elsa whispered, most likely to herself than to Lasky.

"I know it is". Lasky opened the door to Elsa's room. "But you have to do it anyways, it doesn't matter how hard it seems to be".

Elsa was lucky to have someone such as Lasky as her friend. He saved Anna from complete deactivation, when the former captain of the _Infinity_ , Andrew Del Rio, tried to disable her for not being fit to the service. If it wasn't for him, Anna wouldn't be back there in the composer, and Elsa would've died. Technically speaking, he had saved her life.

He placed his hand over her shoulder again, and even though she nearly broke his arm a minute ago, he did not mind that at all. "Talk to her, everything's going to be alright".

Elsa's eyes met the floor in embarrassment; it was nonsense for a person to fall for a machine. She was surprised that the captain of the _Infinity_ would understand that. "Thank you, sir".

His hand let her shoulder go. "You're welcome". He smiled for a second and turned to leave, eventually disappearing on the hallway.

Elsa sighed and entered her room; she closed the door behind her and locked it. Her bed was very appealing, repeatedly calling her name, offering a quiet and relaxing sleep, to move her away from her problems with no effort at all. It was the easy way out, she knew it. Ignore everything would be so easy, everything that happened would simply vanish into oblivion and _no one_ would remember it.

But...

"Anna". Elsa sat at the edge of her bed and called, she immediately appeared in a form of a hologram, generated by the computers all around her room. Anna's slender shape always caught the girl's breath; her semi-naked form was always something that haunted her in her dreams. She moved to her side and sat down at the edge of the bed by her side.

"Hey Elsa... I wasn't expecting you to call me". Anna's lips were curved into a graceful and stunning smile. She had been sure that she never saw something so beautiful in her entire life.

"I'm sure you were. You listened the entire conversation between me and Lasky anyways". Elsa said, her voice was still crestfallen, and it was hurting the A.I. so badly that not even her herself could evaluate or describe.

"Why do you trust him, of all the people?"

"I don't know..." she sighed. "I just do".

"He is a nice man, if I'd tell someone about what's going on... well, except _you_ , of course _,_ this someone would be him". Anna said, she was still gazing at Elsa, for some reason she could not lay her eyes off of her.

"So... what's up?"

Elsa looked up and turned to face Anna, her eyes could say for themselves that she was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, nothing... I'd only like to know what's happening... to you, I mean. It has been-"

"A month already, I know". Elsa finished her sentence. "It's just that, what happened is too much for me to handle, I need to focus on this trial, otherwise I'm going to-"

"You're lying". It was a statement, short and cold, leaving Elsa with no room for argument. "I know what is happening, Elsa. Believe me, I didn't ask for that, but... I have to be honest, I'm glad that you did what you did". Anna knew that she could've said something way better than that. As an A.I, hundreds of thousands of better sentences could've been said, but it wasn't the case there. If she wanted that what was going on was real, she had to say what she _wanted_ to say.

"I nearly sacrificed an entire planet. If it wasn't for the _Infinity_ , the blood of billions of people would be on my hands". She emphasized the scenario by raising her hands, leaving them on sight. "It's a burden that I don't think I am able to handle". Her hands dropped to her lap, filling the room with a slap noise. "But if you died there, in the composer... I- I...". A single sob left her lips. Anna was unsure of what to do; she never had this sort of experience before, she only looked at her, mouth agape, expecting for anything miraculous to happen.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I had been so weak!". Lone tears began to drop from the girl's eyes. "I have no idea how pathetic that is... you- you are an A.I! How can I live with this thought on my mind?!" Seeing that young girl, crying for like the first time in her life was heartbreaking, Anna only watched, was there even something she could do?

"It's not your fault". Anna whispered. There were many moments that she wanted to touch something, _someone,_ but she never felt that urge to actually _feel_ it that much until then. She was incapable to sooth or comfort her. She even tried to, she extended her arm for a moment, intending to wrap it around her neck, but there was nothing except a deep and dark void there, she retracted her hands before Elsa noticed the move. Maybe... it was exactly what Elsa was feeling there.

"I- I can't do this anymore, Anna. It's just too much for me to handle". Elsa wiped the tears off of her face, she looked at Anna momentarily, but looked away when she noticed her panicked eyes, and brought her hands to her laps again, she was frustrated, needless to say.

Elsa's eyes were red, as if she had developed an allergy to tears, or perhaps they were unused to the substances. All her life wasn't so emotionally thrilling. Being on war for the most part of her life didn't allowed her to have deep feelings about anything, they created a soulless machine, seeing someone that considered herself a waste was depressing. While her A.I. would give and do everything to be able to feel what she was able to, even if it was for just for a day, she deprived herself of doing such simplicity.

But in the end of the day, for both, feeling is a difficult task, because both were machines.

"I understand".

 _Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine._

"I figured it out".

"What?"

"I know now..." Elsa looked up, staring deep into Anna's eyes, who couldn't look away from her reddened orbs. "I am the machine".

Anna sighed and shook her head; she brought herself closer to Elsa. "No, you are not, there's something inside of you, Elsa. I can feel it".

"Oh yeah? Then what is it?" Elsa was frustrated, she was tired of people around her all the time, telling her that there was something _else_ inside of her besides a void heart, but never coming up with a goddamn answer.

"Love". It was the most appropriate thing that Anna had to say in that sort of situation. Still, she predicted a dramatic reaction from Elsa, maybe she telling her that she was insane, or a grunt, or a shook of her head, or anything that contradicted what she said.

Anything, except what she heard.

"Love..." Elsa whispered. "Is that really what you think? Is there... something in me? Something... good?"

"A part of me wants to say no. The reasonable part, after everything you destroyed, after everyone you have killed, this part urges me to call you as a monster. However, this other little part, this part that _defines_ me. The part that I would like to call as _me_ screams yes. You aren't perfect, no one is. However, you are the closest of being the most perfect living thing that I have in my concept of people, and I love you for that. It's unconditional, I love you, every single fiber of me screams that so loudly that it deaf me". There was a mutual feeling and desire in both of them, they wanted to hold each other into a tight embrace until their bodies ached, but Anna's words were enough, they were satisfying, they filled Elsa's cold and empty heart with the very first, and most powerful feeling she had ever felt, even though she couldn't describe it herself, there was a definition.

Elsa thought that she was in love, but she never had the chance to actually know the one that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, until now.

"I want to have you by my side forever; you are everything that I have left, you are the only one that I _need_ ".

"This makes us both".

"I love you". And at the same time, they finally said.

* * *

 **Cheesy ending? No? Well...**


End file.
